Hayward, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit required
- yes, Chief of Police-issued
- Standard hours
- 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Extended hours
- until 10:00 p.m. before holidays
- Record inspection
- open to Police Department any time
- Excluded businesses
- jewelry dealers, junk dealers, auto wreckers
Summary
Hayward secondhand dealers, covering everyone from used-furniture shops to bicycle resellers, need a Chief of Police permit, must log every transaction for police inspection, and can only stay open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with limited late hours before holidays.
"Secondhand Dealer" shall include any person who engages in or conducts the business of buying, selling or exchanging, whether as a separate business or in connection with other businesses, any secondhand or used articles or things, including, but not limited to, typewriters, adding or calculating machines, scales, clothing, tools, surgical, dental or drawing instruments, furniture, household furnishings, motorcycles or automobile accessories, bicycles, bicycle accessories, firearms, and musical instruments. ... It shall be unlawful for any person conducting or maintaining the business of Pawnbroker, Secondhand Dealer, or Secondhand Jewelry Dealer or any agent or employee thereof, to keep, or to cause to be kept, such place of business open on certain holidays...or on any other day except during the regular business hours observed by retail merchants in the City of Hayward, herein defined to be the hours from 9:00 o'clock A.M. to 6.00 o'clock P.M.; provided, however, that on a Friday, Saturday, or day preceding any of the aforesaid holidays such business may be kept open until 10:00 o'clock P.M.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 28 Update 1 | Charter: Supplement 1).
Full Breakdown
HMC Sec. 02 defines a secondhand dealer as anyone buying, selling or exchanging secondhand or used goods, including typewriters, calculating machines, scales, clothing, tools, surgical and drawing instruments, furniture, motorcycles or automobile accessories, bicycles and accessories, firearms and musical instruments, but the definition carves out secondhand jewelry dealers, secondhand automobile dealers, junk collectors and dealers, and auto wreckers, who fall under their own separate definitions in the same article. Sec. 20 requires a valid permit under Chapter 6, Article 1 before operating, with fingerprinting of owners and interested parties by the Police Department and denial possible for a prior felony, theft or embezzlement record.
Sec. 22 requires a bound, ink-written transaction record identifying every item bought, sold or exchanged along with the customer's signature, address, age and description, filed daily with the Chief of Police under Sec. 23, whose officers can inspect the shop and the record at any time. Sec. on a Friday, Saturday, or the day before a listed holiday, and forces any other business run on the same premises to close on the same schedule. Sec. 25 bars purchases from minors without verifying ownership.
Violations & Fines
Operating without the Chapter 6, Article 1 permit, keeping the shop open outside the hours fixed by Sec. 6-3.26, or failing to maintain the transaction record required by Sec. 6-3.22 violates Article 3 of Chapter 6; a violating permit is subject to suspension or revocation under Sec. 6-3.55.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a secondhand dealer in Hayward?
What hours can a Hayward secondhand shop stay open?
Do secondhand dealers have to keep records for police?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hayward
California rules heatmap·Compare Hayward to another location·View the California business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Secondhand Dealers in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Alameda County handle secondhand dealers.